US: Acura deals another blow to NSX fans –model delayed to 2016

Honda and Acura, its luxury arm, have been long planning and developing the return of the NSX supercar – this time in hybrid form to fall in line with the latest worldwide trends.

The second generation Acura NSX was previewed in concept form way back in 2012 at the North American International Auto Show and this year the same automotive event finally featured the model’s production form. But it appears the long awaited and hyped NSX hybrid supercar will need some more “awaiting”. The luxury marquee has recently confirmed it was pushing deliveries of the all-wheel drive NSX a little further down the road – to the first quarter of next year. The premium division of Honda, the third largest Japanese automaker, initially said they were envisioning first deliveries for the end of the current year. The postponing seems to have to do with the automaker’s decision in the middle of the development cycle to drop the transverse-mounted, naturally aspirated V6 engine in favor of a longitudinally mounted, twin-turbocharged V6, according to an Acura official. The switch was not enough to disrupt the model’s program, but instead took validation testing a little further than Acura initially forecasted.

Honda’s Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohio, has already begun extremely limited manufacturing duties for the NSX and a production version was showcased just this weekend during the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California. The company has not even given the detailed technical specifications of the car’s overall power – saying only the electric motors and 3.5-liter, twin-turbo V6 will deliver in excess of 550 hp when combined.